


Obligation

by WhispersIntheMorning



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, This is not romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 12:31:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10719408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhispersIntheMorning/pseuds/WhispersIntheMorning
Summary: A wedding gown.A gentle walk through corridors.A story of Lunafreya coming to terms with her duty and the dawn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A three-part story.

Weddings were a beautiful thing.

Her soft dress was bathed in golden light, the crisp petticoats underneath rustling at the hint of wind. There was something magical, ethereal, about how the satin feathered out around her, how she felt in its embrace. It was a gentle hug, a sweet whisper.

Lunafreya wondered if her mother would have told her she were beautiful, if her mother would have been proud to see the dress and to see how Lunafreya was the perfect princess, the perfect Oracle. She had done well, done the best she could, and this was her reward.

She had earned it.

Lunafreya looked into the mirror at herself, at the hair piled on top of her head, the wisp of fringe across her forehead. She smoothed a hand through her errant bangs and allowed her fingers to catch on her braid. It was the same style her mother had taught her as a child, the same style she had worn her her first Covenant. It was a comforting feeling, something that had been there with her for years.

And yet....

It wasn't good enough. It wasn't complete.

Not yet.

There was something missing, something so small that she was forgetting—yes.

The hairpin, the one that had been gifted to her from Regis, whose mere transport had been the kiss of death to the brave Glaive who was tasked to give it to her. It was the hairpin Regis had tracked, had bugged so that he could follow her, to keep his ever watchful eye on her.

He wanted her to be safe.

Everything had always been to keep her safe.

Luna smiled as she gently tucked the hairpin into her blonde locks, the scrape against her head a comfort. It was amazing that she could still feel, even after everything.

Even after the water…

After the chains.

Luna blinked at the mirror and patted the sides of her head, her fingers rubbing into her scalp. Soft, fine, perfect. The rings on her hands connected to her arm pieces seemed to glitter in the light.

She wished it were Tenebrae, but Lunafreya knew that Tenebrae was gone, and that her home now would be Lucis. She had earned that right, earned her happy ending.

She had done her duty, and the Gods were kind. They rewarded her for her triumph, and this was her happy ending.

Luna lifted herself from her vanity, carefully picking up the necklace on the white wood. She clasped the thick rope around her neck, adjusting it to lie against her breastbone, perfectly centered.

A true princess. How long had she dreamed of this moment, of walking from the room as a gaggle of handmaidens trailed behind her? How long had she imagined the flush of light peppering the sky, the swirling of music upon the air? How many times had she looked at her own mother's gown, the flowing satin and wished that one day when she was older, wiser, that she would meet her savior and he would take her to a better place?

Luna swallowed. It was the dream all young girls had. A perfect moment, ushering in a new dawn.

Her lead slippers made not a sound as she backed away from the room, and the doors opened to the hallway.

It was surprising just how dark Insomnia had been, how the royal color of black bled into everything it touched. Her first time to the Citadel had been short and spurned by blood and tragedy, but there had been something in the black marble. Only little flecks of color in the stillness of the Lucis Caelum family colors.

It was different from home, so different. But she would make the black inviting. It would be her job, afterall. That was what new wives did?

And she had an eternity to think of it.

An eternity... what a peculiar word, a peculiar idea.

Taking in a deep breath, Luna dragged her dress across the red rug that was laid out before her, clutching a handful of snow white satin within her grip.


	2. Chapter 2

Sylleblossoms spread across the ground made Luna's head feel fuzzy, as though she were floating. She smiled as a breeze blew through the empty hallways, letting the petals guide her to her resting place.

A wedding... it was perfect, wasn't it? All of the stories, all of the tears as her mother's library burned to the ground with all the sweet books about Princesses rescued by Princes.... this was her day to be special, this was her day to be happy. 

She had earned it. She had completed her duty.

What a strange word, duty. What was a duty? It was something she was meant to do. A responsibility. A task set forth for her from the Gods.

A duty to bring the dawn.

Yes, the dawn, which glistened through the marble arches and the paned windows. The dawn which glittered across the red carpet and the golden doorhandles. 

The Citadel was beautiful, even in ruin. It was peculiar that this was their perfect world and yet the wear and tear of neglect was written across the throne room. But none of it mattered, because she could see him at the top of the stairs, standing so regally in his uniform. 

He looked... different. It was the only thing Luna could think of. She had never seen this face before, never had gotten to watch the beard grow across his cheeks and the whisper of time to pull at the corners of his eyes. He had grown older, and she had not....

No.

That wasn't quite true. 

She could see him now, the other him. He was tall and handsome, just like he had been in the picture he had sent to her on his graduation from high school. Luna remembered looking at that picture with a sad fondness, at the little scribbles he had drawn next to it. Little messages, passed over for years through a little book.

Luna had only gotten to see a few glimpses into Noctis's life as he grew up. She, a caged bird, was only ever told the things of joy from outside Niflheim's clutches. He wanted to pretend like things were happy, and she had done the same. It was her duty to keep Noctis happy. It was always her duty.

Her obligation was to him, to him and his mission.

It was peculiar to see the younger Noctis and the older Noctis shoulder to shoulder on the dias, buy she did not question it as the older Noctis stepped down toward her, holding out a bouquet of Sylleblossoms.

He said nothing to her, only smiling and offering his arm. She took it, noting that the ring was gone. He had fulfilled his obligation, too. He had done his duty. He had purged the star of its scourge.

And she smiled when she took her steps closer and closer to the dais, because she could see that it wasn't one Noctis there, waiting for her. There was another, small-footed and sitting on the throne.

This Noctis... this Noctis she knew. 

"Luna!"

She wanted to say something, to wave to the little boy on the throne, but she noticed that he wasn't looking at her. No, he was looking above her. 

Luna tipped her head up, but she could see nothing but the vaulted ceiling. 

"You know how he can be.... a little boy." The oldest Noctis said as he patted her arm, leading her to the stairs. Her dress was so heavy, her petticoats and the satin weighing her down. It was difficult to wade forward.

But the oldest Noctis, the Noctis whose face was entirely unknown to her, did not let go of her arm. He waited for her to gather her skirts, to tighten her grip, but then he moved forward.

It was like carrying a burden upon her back, and she nearly tripped on the ocean of white, but Noctis did not let her fall. Noctis did not let her down. He had always been that way, no matter the face that he wore... It was what he had promised her as a child. 

Had he known what he swore to? 

She hadn't.

No, he had done as she guided him to, to what the gods guided them to. She had done so because it was her duty, it was her—

"Obligation."


End file.
